


The Unknown

by everlovingdeer



Series: Harry Potter Short Stories [44]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fluff and Humor, Oblivious, One-Sided Attraction, or so he thinks anyway
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-19
Packaged: 2020-10-24 08:54:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,879
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20703281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/everlovingdeer/pseuds/everlovingdeer
Summary: “You saved my life,” he said gently, “During the battle, you saved my life before I was crushed by the falling wall.”“Oh.”“Is that all you can say? Oh?” He straightened up, looking slightly disappointed. “Since the day of the battle, I’ve been searching for you and all you can say is ‘oh’?”





	1. The Unknown

**Author's Note:**

> This was written 23/03/2017 and has been edited a little since

Fred’s POV

“Excuse me?” a small voice called out, trying to get my attention. It was a wonder that I could hear her at all over the noise of the children running around the shop.

“I’ll be with you in a minute, love,” I responded, ringing up the total for the customer in front of me. 

Once I had served the customer, the older man took his bag and left the shop, bringing me face to face with the young woman who had called out to me earlier. It was like a bolt from the blue. Just the sight of her face and I was frozen into place. It was a face I saw in my dreams every night and I was certain that I could describe each of her features in vivid detail. I could tell you the way her lips curved up higher on one side, the way her eyes widened with the adrenaline from that day, but I couldn’t tell you what her name was.

“Erm, excuse me?” she prompted again and I blinked, bringing myself out of my daze.

“Sorry about that,” I apologised quietly, unable to tear my eyes away from her face. After years of searching for her, here she was, standing in my shop. “What can I do for you?”

“I think a delivery of mine was dropped off here?” she trailed off, realising that I had no idea what she was talking about. “George usually keeps it in the back for me until I can pick it up?”

“Um, let me go and check the storeroom,” I offered, cursing myself internally for acting like such a freak. 

Why couldn’t I just talk to her? However, the far more pressing and more important question was, how did she know George? And if she _did _know George, then why didn’t George tell me? I ducked into the storeroom, leaving Verity to man the till and instantly slumped against the wall.

Merlin. I could still remember it. 

_The battle was nothing like any of us had expected. None of us had expected to lose so many people so quickly. But we had to persist. I stood side by side, fighting alongside Percy of all people as we fought to maintain our stronghold on the castle. There was no time to think; spell after spell left my wand and I barely registered which ones I had been casting. Thinking for a moment too long would cost me my life and I was **not **going to die today. _

_"Hello, Minister! Did I mention I’m resigning?" Percy exclaimed suddenly, drawing me from my thoughts and briefly making me look away from the death eater that I was duelling. It could have proven to be a fatal mistake. _

_"You’re joking, Perce! You actually are joking, Percy… I don’t think I’ve heard you joke since you were — "_

_There was an almighty crash as one of the death eaters blew a wall to pieces and before I knew it – _

_“Mobilicorpus!” the spell was exclaimed by a quiet but strong voice. _

_Just like that, I was swept off of my feet, hovering in the air as the caster of the spell moved me away from my previous spot. My eyes sought their way back to where I had been standing merely second ago, only to find the pieces of the wall crumble on top of that very spot. _

_Merlin, that would have killed me. _

_Whoever the woman still moving me through the air was, she had just saved my life. I was set on the ground suddenly as the caster, my saviour, lifted the spell and placed me by their feet. Scrambling to stand up again, I caught a glimpse of her face and that was all I needed for her face to be forever ingrained in my mind. _

_She ran off before I could say a word. _

I had spent years searching her out, trying to find her so I could thank her for saving my life that day. But I’d found nothing about her. And yet, here she was, standing in the shop acting as if I didn’t owe my life to her. Did she not remember? How could she forget; it was certainly something that I would never forget. 

“Oi!” George called out, emerging from the back of the storage room and approaching me, “Are you alright? You look like you’ve seen a ghost?”

“I’m fine,” I said dismissively, straightening up. “Some woman is here to pick up a delivery of hers, she said you normally keep it in the back for her?”

Recognition lit up his features and George returned to the storeroom before coming out with a large cardboard box in his arms. Holding the door open for him, I watched George approach the woman – my saviour – and set the box on the counter.

“Thank you so much,” the woman said to George, smiling widely at him, “I’m sorry I wasn’t around to take it but I was running a delivery when it arrived.”

“Don’t worry about it,” George insisted and I couldn’t help but look at him suspiciously. “You already know what the payment is.”

“Of course,” she nodded, “A tray of blueberry muffins.”

George grinned, “Your muffins _are _the best.”

“Thanks.” Her eyes flickered in my direction before she moved to take the box, “I should head back.”

“Do you need some help?” I offered, reaching out to take the box, finally deciding to act like a normal human, “It looks heavy?”

“Don’t worry about it, I am a witch after all.”

Pulling her wand from her pocket, she levitated the box and headed out of the shop without so much of a backwards glance. I watched her as she walked out of the shop, only turning my eyes back to George once she had walked out of the door. George was grinning, wriggling his eyebrows suggestively at me. 

“How do you know her?” I asked, cutting to the chase. 

“She works down the road,” George sounded _way _too smug. “She owns a bakery – it’s really successful too.”

“A bakery, you say,” I murmured quietly, fuming internally because I had spent such a long time searching for her when she was literally a few doors away. The number of times looking for her had pushed me to the edge of sanity were countless, and yet it seemed like while I was looking for her, she was becoming friends with my brother. 

“Do you want me to set you up?” George offered and I shook my head instantly. 

“I’m not interested in her like that,” I insisted, rolling my eyes when George gave me a look that told me he didn’t buy it. “I’m behind serious Georgie – that _her,_ the one that saved me during the Battle.”

George fell silent, eyes growing wide. “Are you serious? You’ve spent years looking for her and it was Robinson the whole time.”

I nodded, “She’s the reason I’m alive today and all this time she’s been within arm’s reach.”

“Well, what are you going to do then?”

“I’m not sure,” I shrugged, “But I’m definitely not letting her get away from me this time.”

“That doesn’t sound like you’re not interested,” George trailed off innocently. 

* * *

Normal (OC’s) POV

I was busy icing my signature red velvet cupcakes when I heard the bell toll, telling me that a customer had just walked into the bakery. Adjusting my hold on the piping bag, I piped the icing into a perfect swirl.

“Just a moment,” I called out, setting the piping bag down on the side once I had finished icing the last one. 

Picking up the tray of red velvet cupcakes, I headed out of the kitchen and out to the front of the shop. A smile instantly made its way onto my face, the way it always did whenever I was faced with a customer.

“Oh,” I said, slightly shocked when I recognised the face. Setting the tray of cupcakes onto the counter, I wiped my hands on my apron. “A new customer – is there anything I can help you with Mr Weasley?”

“You can call me Fred,” he insisted, taking a look at each of the cakes in my display. His eyebrows rose in wonder and I couldn’t help but smile at the sight of his expression. “Mr Weasley makes me sound like I’m so much older than you when according to George, you’re the same age as Ron.”

“You’ve been asking about me?” I asked cautiously, opening the glass door to the display counter and arranging the newest cupcakes on one of the ornate, unique cupcake stands.

“It’s nothing like that,” he assured me, looking up at me with an innocent smile, “I just had no idea that there was a bakery on the same road as our shop – let alone that it was so popular.”

“Well, I guess everyone loves a good cake.”

Fred straightened up, keeping his eyes on mine. “Rumour has it that yours are some of the best around.”

“You shouldn’t always believe rumours,” I said slightly uncomfortably under the weight of his stare. Why did he keep looking at me in that manner?

“I don’t believe rumours,” he assured me, “But I believe George.”

The bell rang again before I could ask him what he meant. A family, one of my regular customers, walked into the bakery and just like they always did, the children ran straight to the display. 

“How has your day been?” I asked their parents who trailed after their children and met my eyes with a roll of their own. 

“They were dying to pop into the bakery as soon as they heard we were coming to Diagon Alley.” Their father sighed as I walked around the counter to crouch beside their children; two girls who proudly announced that they were in their double digits now and one boy who was the cutest 4-year-old I had ever met. “I’m surprised they lasted so long.”

“Well, I’m always pleased to see them,” I cooed, pinching their son’s cheeks gently. He giggled. “So, do my favourite princesses want their usual or to try something else?”

The two girls, twins, shared a look before announcing simultaneously, “The usual.”

“Alrighty then, two slices of double chocolate fudge cake coming up.” I turned to the boy rising onto his toes to see into the top shelf of the display, “And I have something very special for you Mr Superhero.”

He perked up at my words, smiling widely when I went back around the counter to pop into the kitchen for a moment. I returned to find that the young boy had climbed into his father’s arms so he could see over the counter. 

“Happy birthday!” I cheered, approaching him with a cupcake iced to look like his favourite superhero. His eyes lit up as he leaned towards me to blow the candle out. Taking the cupcake from me, he showed his parents with eager eyes.

“And before you say anything,” I said with a look towards their mother who was grinning at me, “I only iced a cupcake because you say sugar makes him crazy so be thankful that it wasn’t a normal-sized cake. Also, it’s on the house. Now, what can I get mum and dad? The usuals too?”

Packing the family’s order to go and wringing up their total, I waved them goodbye as they left the shop, suddenly remembering the presence of the other man. Fred had watched the entire interaction with an odd smile on his face. 

“I’m sorry, I forgot you were there for a moment.”

“Not many women would be able to say that, love.” He grinned, approaching the counter once again, “But for some reason, I don’t mind.”

“Right.” I cleared my throat, wiping at the counter so that I had an excuse not to look at him. “Didn’t you want to buy something?”

-“I actually came here because we have some unfinished business,” he admitted, leaning against the counter that I had been cleaning so I was forced to give him my attention. 

“We do?” I gave up pretending to clean. His expression shifted and I saw the way the mischief drained out of them, becoming far too serious. It didn’t suit him.

“You saved my life,” he said gently, “During the battle, you saved my life before I was crushed by the falling wall.”

“Oh.”

“Is that all you can say? Oh?” He straightened up, looking slightly disappointed. “Since the day of the battle, I’ve been searching for you and all you can say is ‘oh’?”

“What would you like me to say?” I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion. “I don’t quite understand Fred? You say you’ve spent essentially years searching me out, but for what?”

“To thank you of course!”

“You’re welcome, I guess.” I really didn’t understand him, “It was, of course, the right thing to do.”

“But I want to return the favour,” he insisted and then sighed. “I know it seems like I’m not making sense but I want to do something for you in return. Is there anything I can do?”

“Buy something from my bakery and we’ll call it even?”

His face fell and I honestly didn’t understand why. Did he want me to stand under a crumbling wall so _he _could save _me _this time around? 

* * *

I had not seen the last of Fred Weasley and he seemed desperate to make that fact known. It was only natural to assume that he was busy working in the shop – which always seemed to be packed full of customers – and yet, how did he find so much time to visit my bakery for long amounts of time. Did he really have nothing better to do with his life? 

Here he was, yet again, sitting in my bakery as he watched me work. He hadn’t bought anything yet and kept insisting that he was thinking of what to pick. Why that decision took so long to make was beyond me. He had also developed a habit of sneaking into the back of the shop, into my kitchen, in order to watch me bake because apparently he found the entire muggle way of baking fascinating. I just thought he was looking for excuses to hang around. 

“I don’t understand why you don’t just use magic to bake the cakes,” he admitted, watching me whisk my plain Victoria sponge batter by hand. “It would be much faster.”

“Because it doesn’t taste the same,” I explained patiently, pouring the batter into the already greased and lined tins. “I’m not sure why but the added magic does something to the taste; that’s why muggle cakes taste slightly different to wizarding versions of them.”

“Why?” He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion, appearing behind me as I set the now-empty bowl back down onto the counter. 

“I don’t know, ask someone who knows more about the way magic works.” I elbowed him out of the way, having already grown comfortable in his presence. He moved away reluctantly, perking up slightly when I handed him the batter covered spoon – he was such a child. 

Placing the dirty bowl in the sink, I washed my hands before walking back to the counter where the tins full of batter had been resting. Picking up the cake tins, I placed them in the already heated oven and turned back to find my tall guest, watching me curiously. 

“What is it?” I asked with a roll of my eyes, watching the way he swiped a finger across the wooden spoon in his hands before raising it to his lips. 

“Why didn’t I know you ran a bakery?” he wondered aloud, yet again.

“I don’t know Fred,” I sighed, rolling my eyes just as one of the timers beeped. Slipping my hand into some oven gloves, I approached one of the multiple ovens in the kitchen and pulled out a tray of savoury muffins. “But why were you supposed to have known anyway?”

“I don’t know,” he muttered defensively as he walked towards me, tracing my movements as I carried the hot tray of muffins towards one of the counters. 

He leaned over my shoulder, making a move to steal one away. I slapped his hand instantly, making him recoil away from me.

“Easy woman.”

“Not only are they not for you,” I pointed out, “But they’ve literally just come out of the oven and you’ll burn yourself.”

“I had no idea that you cared _so _much for me,” he cooed, looping an arm around my shoulder.

I elbowed him out of the way. He frowned a little. “If they’re not for me, who are they for then?”

“Why would I bake an entire tray of muffins just for you?” I raised an eyebrow, “They’re for an order that a customer but in. And besides, you wouldn’t like them anyway– they’re savoury.”

Just like I knew he would, Fred made a face and made no other move to snatch one of the muffins. Merlin, he was adorable. 

Shaking my head I turned back to the cooling muffins and gently eased each one of the trays, leaving them on the cooling rack. Fred, stepping slightly away from me, leaned against the counter to watch me work. Crossing his arms over his chest, he watched me silently as I began to box the muffins, humming under my breath as I did so. 

The bell rang as another customer entered. It was like I had been conditioned to smile at the sound. Fred chuckled under his breath, following me as I made my way out of the kitchen. 

At the sight of the customer, Fred muttered under his breath, “How do they all know about this place? And yet no-one told me?”

“How have you been Bill?” I asked, approaching the older man who was waiting on the other side of the counter. 

He glanced curiously at his younger brother but said nothing of it, “Let’s just say I’m glad that it’s the weekend tomorrow.”

“I know exactly how you feel,” I said with a laugh as Fred came to a stand beside me, resting against the counter to lean closer to his brother.

“What are you doing here, brother dearest?” he asked curiously, words bordering between teasing and seriousness, “Shouldn’t you be running home to the heavily pregnant Mrs?”

“He’s here doing an errand for her,” I informed, pushing him away from me with my hip so I could get to the kitchen. Stopping in my step, I looked back to the older man who was looking between Fred and me with … understanding? Understanding of what, though? “Unless of course, you’re here to take your extremely annoying younger brother with you?”

“Unfortunately not,” Bill said with a well-meaning sigh, “You’ll have to put up with him for a little longer.”

“I thought it was too good to be true,” I muttered, ducking into the kitchen to return to the box of savoury muffins. 

Closing the box and taping the top down, I picked it up and headed back to the two brothers. The brothers, at the sound of the door opening, trailed off and looked back at me. 

“Am I interrupting something?” I asked cautiously, eyebrows raised as I set the box down on the counter. They both shook their heads and I shrugged, “Never mind then.”

“Thanks for these,” Bill grinned, taking the box as I rung up the total, “She’s been craving them like mad and it was either I got here these or suffered more under her wrath.”

“Don’t let her hear you talk about her like that,” I advised, taking the money from Bill and wishing him a final good day as he left the bakery. 

“Why does it seem like you know every single member of my family?” Fred asked once his brother had left, following me into the kitchen once again. Why did he remind me of a puppy?

“Because I do,” I said matter-of-factly as another timer went off. Rushing around the kitchen to find my oven gloves, I hurried to take the Victoria sponges out of the oven and set them aside. “Most of your family are regulars there – apart from your brother, the one in Romania?”

“Charlie?”

“Yeah him.” I looked back to the man who was acting more like a hindrance in my kitchen then help and tutted. “How long are you planning on being here today?”

“As long as I feel like,” he said with a grin, watching as I started to beat the butter and icing together for the cake’s filling. “It’s my day off, love.”

“And you chose to spend it here?” I asked with a raised eyebrow, “Well, you can help me today then.”

“Yes, ma’am.” He mock saluted me, “Just tell me what to do.”

“Well, first of all, this cake is for your dad – your mum ordered it and I was going to drop it off after the shop closed but because you’re here, you can drop it off instead,” I said with a sweet smile, trying to get him to agree.

“As you command.” He grinned only to pause, “The cake’s for dad? It’s not his birthday or their anniversary –”

“She just wanted to do something nice for him.” I glanced at the dirty dishes in the sink and looked back to Fred with another innocent smile. 

He sighed pretending to be annoyed as he headed to the sink, “I got the hint. But,” he looked over his shoulder at me as I removed the cakes from their tins, “What do I get in return?”

“Free cake?” I offered, raising my eyes to his. 

He frowned, looking clearly put out as he muttered, “But that’s not what I want though.”

* * *

Orders from the Weasley family kept flooding in; one after the other, one of them would drop by the bakery to place an order for some event or another. But, given by the size of their family, that made sense. Just yesterday George had popped into the bakery to place an order to a cake to celebrate his and Angelina’s anniversary. It had been extremely last minute, but after a rather sheepish admittance that he’d forgotten, I was swayed and set out on making the cake. 

And now, I had finally finished the cake and just needed to deliver it to George. With one last look at the cake to check that it was perfect, I grinned and set about boxing it up. Would it be a good idea for me to tell George that Angie had placed a cake for the exact same reason last week? She had picked the cake up this morning and had asked me to keep it a secret from George. 

Oh well, there was no such thing as too much cake. 

Boxing the cake up, I gathered the cake in my hands and headed to the door. Turning the open sign to show that the bakery was closed, I stepped out into the street. Making sure to cast a locking charm on the door, I walked a few shops down and approached the joke shop. Just as I went to enter the shop, a group of kids came running out and almost bumped into me. Shifting out of the way quickly, I kept a tight hold on the cake. 

Merlin, maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to drop the cake off here because the chance of literally dropping the cake had suddenly skyrocketed. But it was too late to do anything about it. 

Walking cautiously into the shop, I kept an eye out for any suddenly oncoming kids. As I did so, I recognised some of the children as my customers – did they come to my bakery to get a sugar rush and then caused havoc using the twins’ products? Because if that was the case then I owed Filch an apology. But then again, Filch hadn’t ever helped _me_ when I had been at Hogwarts.

An arm slid around my shoulder, making me jump and lose hold on the cake. How the hell – 

With the reflexes of a seeker, the arm around my shoulder removed itself to catch the cake before it fell. Fred grinned up at me, seeing the blatant relief on my face. 

“Merlin woman,” he teased, “You were clutching it so tightly but dropped it so easily.”

Instead of responding to him, I opened the box and peered down at the cake to find that it was perfectly fine. Letting out a deep breath, I closed the lid of the box and smiled at Fred who rose back to his full size.

“Fred Weasley, I could kiss you,” I declared, moving to take the box away from him. 

He moved it out of the way and started to walk further into the shop I followed after him, watching the way he effortlessly moved between the children. “Well, I wouldn’t say no to a kiss from you.”

“You’re too much sometimes.” I rolled my eyes and followed him as he walked into the back of the shop.

“You’re the one that offered,” he muttered but I was too busy looking around the storeroom to respond. 

The desks lining the walls of the storeroom were stacked with papers, which from the looks of it, contained recipes for some of their newest creations. Picking up one of the pieces of paper, I looked over the still unfinished recipe and cast a glance to the Weasley twin who was watching me.

“I’d always thought that potions reminded me a bit of baking,” I commented, looking back to a recipe that was supposed to give the drinker a child’s mentality. “You have to get the recipe perfect or the product ends up messed up.”

“I’ve never thought about it that way,” he murmured, coming closer to me. Putting a hand on my arm, he took the piece of paper away from me to make me look at him. “So, what brought you to the joke shop today? Did you realise that you missed me? Or maybe that it was unfair for me to always seek you out and not the other way around?”

“That’s not it.” I rolled my eyes, heading back to the cake which he’d set aside without so much as a second glance. “I came here to see the better looking Weasley twin, actually.”

“So, me.” He crossed his arms over his chest and leaned against the table to look at me with a smile.

“No, I was talking about George.” I trailed off innocently, drumming my fingers against the tabletop. “I’ve always thought that he was good looking.”

“We’re identical.”

“But he knows how to wear it better.” 

“Delude yourself for as long as you like,” he said between chuckles. “So, the cake’s for Georgie then?”

“It’s his and Angie’s anniversary today and he ordered the cake.”

“So he forgot then,” he surmised knowingly. “Why doesn’t that surprise me?”

“Oi!” George called out as he walked into the storeroom, shattering the mood. I straightened up and looked at the twin who entered the room with eyes only focused on his twin, “Where the hell have you gone off to? Leaving me alone with the kids who are becoming feral and fighting over the last of the stock?”

“I was escorting a guest,” Fred responded, gesturing to me.

George, finally noticing my presence in the room, looked over at me with raised eyebrows. “I brought your cake,” I explained, gesturing to the cake box on the tabletop.

“You’re a lifesaver,” he exclaimed, walking over to the box and lifting the lid to sneak a peek at it. “It’s perfect.”

“Well, I _am _a bit of a perfectionist.” I admitted before glancing at the clock, “I should get going, I had to close the bakery before coming here.”

“Walk her back Gred. I’ll hold the fort down for a while,” George prompted, ignoring me when I instantly started to protest. “You know it’s not in the Weasley blood to leave a woman to walk on her own.”

“Merlin, what century are you living in?” I asked but made no other protest, knowing that it was pointless to argue with the twins. 

“Let’s get going, my fair lady,” Fred ignored my question and gestured for me to lead the way.

We walked the short distance to my shop in silence and I was so tempted to ask him why he seemed to revolve around my bakery. It was a valid question and yet I couldn’t ask him in case he stopped showing up randomly at the shop. 

“Expect me to pop around tomorrow,” he broke the silence, following me inside when I unlocked the door. 

“Why?” I furrowed my eyebrows, “I don’t understand – you’ve got a day off tomorrow so why come around here. What’s it going to take for you to stop spending all of your time here?”

“Well that’s a rather straightforward question,” he murmured, closing the distance between us. I suddenly lost the ability to speak when he stopped right in front of me, the front of our shoes brushing against each other. Leaning down to bring his face in level with mine, he tilted his head curiously, “I wonder whether you really want to know.”

“Of course I do,” I murmured quietly, having finally found my voice. 

“But will you grant me it?” he continued just as quietly as before, raising an eyebrow when I nodded straight away. “Promise?”

“I promise, now what is it?”

“A date.” He grinned suddenly when I went to protest, “You promised Robinson. I’ll pick you up on Friday at 7, be ready.”

“Wait –”

He pressed a quick kiss to my cheek, silencing me before straightening up. Without another word, Fred made his way towards the door, humming a tune under his breath as he went. Turning the closed sign back to open, Fred left the bakery with a smile and left me staring at the door he had just walked out of. 

* * *

This was _not _a date and if he thought that this was a date then he was seriously confused. Who the hell brought their date to their mother’s house? And I hadn’t even consented to this! He had shown up at the bakery, right on time, and had apparated me away before I could even begin to protest. It was rather annoying.

I hadn’t recognised the house we had apparated outside of, because why should I have? It wasn’t as if I had ever visited the Burrow before. Only when an all too familiar woman opened the door, did I realise where I was and I was ushered into the house before I could say another word? And if that wasn’t bad enough, it seemed that the entire family had decided to visit their parents at once. Or, as I was later informed by George, this was the weekly meal that the Weasley family made sure to keep to and I had been brought along as Fred’s date. 

“Merlin Fred,” I exclaimed quietly, pulling him into a corner of the room to get some privacy – which appeared to be an impossible task. “Who the hell brings a girl to meet their parents on their first date?”

“Because you’ve referred to this as our first date and not our only date, I take it that there’ll be more?” He chuckled at the sight of my glare and looped an arm over my shoulder, shaking me slightly. “Besides, you’d have had to meet them anyway, love. There’s no way I’m letting you run away again.”

“Fred –”

“This way I’ll know whether you’re strong enough to eventually become a Weasley.”

He said the words so casually that they actually stumped me. “Surely you’re joking. Right?”

“I don’t see what the big deal is.” He shrugged and I struggled not to thump him when I realised that he hadn’t answered my question. “You’ve met most of my family before and they like you. I thought you liked them too.”

“I do,” I said with a sigh, glancing away from him when I realised that we had rapidly become the centre of attention. Merlin, why were they all so nosy? “But –”

“You’re nervous,” he correctly guessed, squeezing my shoulder. “Well, there’s no reason for you to be nervous.”

“That’s easy for you to say,” I muttered under my breath, shooting him a look when he had the nerve to start chuckling. “You’re not the one meeting the entire family and, in case you didn’t notice, you happen to have a rather large family.”

“I’d have to be blind to not notice that.”

I said nothing else. Instead, my eyes focused on the woman who had made her way out of the kitchen and had scanned the room. Once her eyes had locked onto my figure, Mrs Weasley gestured for me to follow after her and I felt my heart drop into my stomach. And I thought I was nervous before – 

Throwing Fred one last look, I frowned when he had the cheek to throw me a thumbs up as I followed after his mother. Walking across the room, avoiding each of the Weasley family members’ eyes as I did so, I headed into the kitchen and waited for Mrs Weasley to say something. She was standing in the open doorway and from my position I could see Fred who wriggled his eyebrows at me.

“How long have you been dating Fred, my dear?” she asked, straight to the point.

“Excuse me?” I looked around the kitchen, unable to meet the older woman’s eyes. “Not long – not long at all.”

She nodded as if she had expected that and made her way over to me. Taking both of my hands in hers, she met my eyes with a gentle smile.

“He told me you saved his life – during the Battle, is that true?”

“It was a simple spell,” I protested quietly, wondering why the older woman’s eyes were filling with tears; had I said something wrong?

She embraced me quickly, making my eyes widen. I returned her embrace when she began to sob loudly into my shoulder. Patting her back gently, I gave Fred a look, silently telling him to come and sort out his mother. He did no such thing, instead, he chuckled and ignored George who had come up to talk to him.

“Thank you,” Mrs Weasley said sincerely, sniffling slightly. Pulling back from me, she held my shoulders and said with a smile, “Welcome to the family.”

I stared back at her silently; what had I gotten myself into?


	2. Epilogue: 6 Years Later

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> "You went to see Ginny today," I accused, making him remove his hand. Turning back to face him I jabbed a finger at his chest. "You went to see Ginny and played with baby Albus, didn't you?"
> 
> "So what if I did?" he pouted.
> 
> "Being around babies makes you broody," I muttered with narrowed eyes.

_6 YEARS LATER_

Angie and George were getting married - finally. It couldn't have come soon enough in Molly's opinion. After Fred (number 2, not my Fred) had been born, Molly had originally had a fit over the fact that both were not married and when Angie became pregnant for the second time, Molly had put her foot down and insisted they both married. And Angie, well, she didn't want to be showing when she walked down the aisle which led to a rather quickly planned but intimate wedding ceremony.

The ceremony itself was tomorrow and that was why I was busy finalising the cake. Originally, I hadn't wanted to make the cake for their wedding because I was filled with worry that if I somehow messed up the cake then it could potentially ruin their wedding day. But after a lot of persuading, I had eventually agreed to make their cake just so that they would stop pestering me.

Nevertheless, I wanted everything to be perfect. And, as I stepped away from the cake to look it over a final time I thought that it was perfect. I had spent a long time working on it and was immensely proud of the way the final product looked. Casting a stasis charm on the cake and making sure that it was perfect, I apparated along with it, into the Burrow.

Molly was already waiting for me in the kitchen. At the sight of the cake, she gasped, covering her mouth with her hands and I looked at my mother-in-law cautiously.

"Merlin, it's beautiful," she breathed, approaching the cake when I had set it down on the table.

"I'm glad you like it," I admitted quietly, aware of the time and not wanting to wake anyone up. Especially not my twins who were sleeping soundly in their grandmother's home. "I was worried that it wouldn't turn out right."

"And why wouldn't it?" she asked, pulling back to give me a hug. "My daughter made it." Pulling away from me, Molly looked back at the cake and gave a wistful sigh, "I wish my wedding cake had been as beautiful."

"Well if you ever actually consider that vow renewal then I would be honoured to make it."

"Did you really think he was being serious?" she asked, referring to the time when, during one of the weekly family lunches, my father-in-law had proposed to her again.

"He was," I said with a smile, "He's even asking everyone to take some time off for when you decide on a date."

Molly turned red, becoming embarrassed under my eyes. At the sight of my blooming smile, she swatted my arm and began to hurry me away. "Have you seen the time? You all need to arrive here early tomorrow or you'll be late for the wedding."

"I know, I know."

"And besides, Fred's bound to turn up in a few minutes, demanding to know why you're not in bed yet."

I rolled my eyes but said nothing. Fred claimed that he couldn't sleep unless I was beside him but I knew that was a lie. After all, every time I had made him sleep on the sofa, he had slept just fine on his own. But without telling his mother any of this, I bid her goodbye and apparated into my own home.

Sure enough, when I walked into our bedroom, I found Fred waiting. He was sat against the headboard, eyes focused on the open doorway and I wondered how long was left in his mental countdown until he apparated into his parent's home.

"What took you so long?" he complained, watching as I changed into my pyjamas.

"I was working on the cake," I explained, heading into the ensuite to brush my teeth. "I wanted it to be perfect."

"And is it?" he asked, minutes later, when I emerged from the ensuite.

"I think it is," I admitted, walking straight to the bed and lying down. Turning on my side to face him, I added, "Your mum thinks it perfect too."

"That's good," he agreed, lying down beside me. "So you don't need to spend any more late nights in the bakery then."

"You say that like I've been pulling late nights for a month," I muttered against his chest when he pulled me towards him. "The only way I'll know if it's perfect is if George and Angie like it tomorrow."

"They will," he assured me, rubbing a hand up and down my back as my eyes started to drift shut. Merlin, I was tired. Turning so my back was against his chest, I settled down more comfortably to sleep as Fred continued to murmur, "George will like it as long as Angie likes it and well, Angie inhales everything you bake."

"Don't let her hear you talking about her like that," I muttered, already half asleep as Fred's hand delved under my shirt to splay across my stomach. "She's craving sweet things - I think she's having a girl."

"George hopes it's a girl," Fred admitted, his hand moving up.

My eyes opened, hand clamping down on top of Fred's to stop its progress. He wasn't going to let me fall asleep peacefully.

"What's wrong?" he said gently, nuzzling into my neck.

"You went to see Ginny today," I accused, making him remove his hand. Turning back to face him I jabbed a finger at his chest. "You went to see Ginny and played with baby Albus, didn't you?"

"So what if I did?" he pouted.

"Being around babies makes you broody," I muttered with narrowed eyes. "Every time you're around baby Albus you suddenly want another baby and I'm telling you this nicely Fred - no!"

"I'm a Weasley," he declared, the picture of innocence. "Being broody is in our genes. Besides what's wrong with having another baby?"

"Nothing," I admitted, "Apart from the fact that your mother is looking after our twins. Twins that have only just turned one and if you think we're going to have another baby so soon, then you've got another thing coming."

Fred pouted and I rolled my eyes. "Well we can practice, can't we?"

"Fred?"

"Yes, love."

"Do you want to sleep on the sofa, tonight?"

"No, love."

"Then are you going to let me fall asleep in peace?"

"Of course I am."

It appeared that he did have a survival instinct, after all, I thought, wrapping my arms around his waist as I drifted off to sleep. Pulling me into his chest, Fred pressed a kiss to the top of my head before falling asleep to.


End file.
